The Iudex's day off

Chapter 12 - Do nothing but sigh

 Furina's POV

 "I'm what?"

 "For the crime of endangering the people of Fontaine, you are sentenced to five days of bed rest and constant monitoring throughout, Monsieur Neuvillette." Sigewinne repeated seriously.

 I almost couldn't hold back my laugh when I saw him so utterly baffled.

 "Excuse me?"

 It seems his brain couldn't quite process what he was hearing.

 "This is quite a mild punishment, Neuvillette." I said as calmly as I possibly could.

 And he needed it too.

 To think that he would lose control of not just his emotions but his form too.

 It's worrying, to say the least.

 As for my little addition to his sentence...

 While Neuvillette was still blinking in confusion, I turned to Duke Wriothesely.

 Our eyes met and his were filled with doubt. That is... until I smirked at him.

 Instantly his eyes widened.

 "I need to go." He jumped up and was ready to run for his life.

 "The person who will be monitoring you during this period will be Duke Wriothesely." A said before he could do so.

 He froze in place and looked back at me as if I had just sentenced him to death.

 Neuvillette had a similarly horrified expression.

 Though, the two most likely had very different reasons.

 "Lady Furina, do you wish for Fontaine to come to a halt? Not only do you remove me from my post, but the Duke as well?"

 I knew it.

 Of course, this is the direction Neuvillette would think in.

 Still, even if I knew, I was still surprised that that was the thing he had a problem with.

  "You took some days of yourself so I'm working with what I've got here. I did not extend your leave by that much and merely implied that you shall not do anything straining during it. Paperwork is still fine. As for the Duke... Won't everyone except for Sigewinne return to work tomorrow at the latest? If you feel so bad you can just stay with him at the fortress."

 I found this to be a perfectly good plan, but...

 "Lady Furina."

 "Yes?"

 "You want me to stay in Meropide?"

 "Yes. Is there a problem?"

 "A problem? Hah... Lady Furina... How should I say this..."

 "That is an exceptionally horrible idea." The Duke helped him out.

 3rd person POV

 While Wriothesely tried to explain to Furina why telling Neuvillette to go to Meropide is like throwing him to the wolves, Sigewinne locked eyes with Neuvillette, looking at him suspiciously.

 She examined him from head to toe a few times all the while watching him with such a piercing gaze that even the Hydro Sovereight felt pressured.

 "Lady Furina." She interrupted the arguing pair.

 "Yes? What is it, Sigewinne?"

 "Please extend Monsieur Neuvillette's leave of absence to a week at the very least."

 "Huh? Why?"

 "It looks like something interesting happened while we were talking. Something neither Monsieur Neuvillette nor Duke Wriothesely is keen on sharing."

 Both men froze at her words.

 "Aha! So it's true! What happened? Spit it out!" FUrina jumped around in excitement.

  That same second a shiver ran down Wriothesely's spine.

 "A single word and you're dead." Neuvillette's emotionless voice sounded in his head.

 "Come now! Tell me!" Furina continued.

 Neither of them spoke.

 One was a bit too intimidated by the aura the other was releasing, as for the other...

 Neuvillette was not willing to give Furina another thing to tease him about.

 "Monsieur Neuvillette. Do you accept your sentence of one-week mandatory rest under the monitoring of Duke Wriothesely, or should I tell Lady Furina what happened?"

 As Sigewinne spoke she went a glare at the Duke who was preparing to interrupt.

 At this moment, Wriothesely could have sworn that the two were related. Both sending him an equally emotionless yet incredibly intimidating glare.

 After a moment of silence, Neuvillette sighed.

 "Lady Furina please have Sedene send my work over."

 Before Furina could get in a single word, cheers erupted, followed by surprised shouts as a group of melusines tumbled into the room from behind the corner.

 With all eyes now on them they let out a few awkward coughs and apologies before slipping away.

 "And you tell me not to listen in and peek." Neuvillette mumbled with a small smile.

 "So we've come to an agreement then? Oh, and there is no need to bother Sedene. I have all your work right here."

 As she spoke, Furina snapped her fingers and the table between them was instantly filled with piles of paper high enough to block everyone's line of sight.

 Another sigh escaped Neuvillette's lips as he moved most of it onto the floor and turned to his archon.

 "While I appreciate you not wanting to bother Sedene, she still holds quite a few documents she was not to give you under any circumstance. I will still need those, so if you would, please inform her of our arrangements."

 The corner of the archon's mouth twitched hearing his words but she didn't comment on it, maybe fearing that if she did, Neuvillette in turn would point out that she had finished almost none of the paperwork she was to do.

 It was at this moment that Duke Wriothesely spoke up.

 "Hey, wait a moment! Don't I get a say in all of this?"

 He was surprised when he saw Neuvillette, who till now was sending him subtle warning glares, looking at him thankfully.

 While the Duke was bewildered by the sudden change in attitude, Neuvillette was hoping that Wriothesely's straightforward and unbending nature would be enough to convince Furina and the girls against their little plan.

 Sadly for him though...

 "I will give you every single ounce of tea I've ever received."

 Furina was well prepared.

 "Deal."

 And at the mention of tea, Duke Wriothesely completely forgot about the consequences of his decision.

 "Great! Now that that is done with, I'll be leaving."

 Before Neuvillette could talk some sense into the happily bribed Duke, Furina slipped away amidst Sigewinne's giggles, leaving the exhausted Chief Justice able to do nothing but sigh.

 "Duke Wriothesely."

 "Yes?"

 "You just sold your soul away for tea."

 "Excuse me?"

 "Hah..."